Mobilcom to Enforce Company Takeover

Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, March 23, 2002

The head of Mobilcom said he intends to force partner France Telecom to take over the German company by legal means.

Mobilcom chief executive Gerhard Schmid and France Telecom have been at odds for weeks over debt-laden Mobilcom's plans to spend 1.3 billion euros ($1.1 billion) on new wireless services in Germany. France Telecom is lobbying for Mobilcom to link with a rival to keep down the cost.

Schmid told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Sunday that he would seek a court order to force France Telecom, which has a 28.5 percent stake in Mobilcom, to buy his 33-percent stake to secure a majority.

"If Telecom wants a change in strategy it should take over immediately," Schmid was quoted as saying. Otherwise, France Telecom is legally bound to provide money under a long-agreed business plan, he said.

Schmid said accords with France Telecom meant he could exercise an option to sell his stake to the French company. He said he would seek a court order forcing the purchase in the coming weeks.

France Telecom boss Michel Bon told Friday's Handelsblatt newspaper that Mobilcom had "no chance" against larger operators like Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone unless it joins forces with one of three other smaller companies that hold German licenses.

He said France Telecom wanted to keep its investment to a minimum and urged Mobilcom to seek German regulators' permission for an alliance.